Every religion appears to value altruism in different ways, some even putting humans, animals, and the environment as equally entitled recipients of our benevolence. For some, the focus of altruism is limited to those of their faith, Muslims being one example, while other religions make a broad sweep, like some branches of Buddhism, which include protecting bugs. For atheists, benevolence is still a mystery because under the evolutionary paradigm, survival is the primary human drive and benevolence would tend to impede that drive. More specifically, we were selected because of our incredible ability to survive, not for our capacity to help others. Helping others depletes our resources and therefore diminishes our survival ability.

The Western world appears to value altruism more than other civilizations, evidenced by the fact that it is the West that does the most to relieve victims of natural disasters throughout the world. In the modern era, charitable organizations are abundant and include a plethora of beneficiaries such as the homeless, the environment, universities, museums, whales, AIDS, and so forth.

Over the past century, governments have taken a larger role in providing aid to a host of wide-ranging charitable causes. This is not charity as we’ve known it because historically it was a voluntary act by an individual, rather than compulsory. Philosophically, much has changed over this time. For example, in the past, it was virtuous to give your time and money to the poor and needy, today there is a large segment of our population who believe it is virtuous to advocate raising taxes on others in order to help more people in need. This thinking breaks from the past because traditionally, virtue has been the domain of actions, not beliefs. More specifically, it is virtuous for someone to give their coat to a person in need of one, it is another thing to believe that we should take other people’s coats and give them to the needy. While there are plenty of times when advocacy is important, we are not wise to think of this as virtuous, because usually it brings little self-sacrifice, the very staple of virtue.

Within the Church, much has changed as well, evidenced by the many televangelists who call on the faithful to “sow their seed” so that they can reap a harvest. The problem with this thinking is that it feeds into our most selfish inclinations and makes giving more about the giver than the needs of the recipients. This is very different from the Medieval Church where it is well reported that believers where rushing into cities where the plague had erupted to comfort the sick, while all others were fleeing. Again, historically it was virtuous to help those in need, while there’s very little virtue in making a financial investment, which is what much of this sounds like.

Archaeologists have given us some insight into altruism in the past. The custom among the Romans of honoring the dead by commemorating their acts of generosity in their inscriptions on tombstones gives us a glimpse at the abundance of donations and endowments left behind by the affluent class. While acts of benevolence among the heathen remains a historical fact, these acts are not directed at relieving distress among recipients; rather they are focused on pleasing the recipients as well as the donor. According to historian Dr. Gerhard Uhlhorn, recognition and favor among the people appears to be the primary motive as there is no evidence that the gifts were in any way directed at relieving the burdens of the poor or sick. Knowing hunger is a strong agent for revolution, Gracchus and Claudius both passed Corn Laws to distribute food, but it is clear that they were politically motivated. In the Greco-Roman world, the pauper was despised, and whatever was given to him was considered thrown away as the State had no use for his life and therefore no reason to preserve it. Plato felt the State had no use for the poor and needy. Athens appears to have had the closest thing to a system of poor relief in a daily subsidy given primarily to the blind, lame, and crippled citizens. Orphans in general received leniency, while orphans of those fallen in war where supported by the State.

What changed dramatically following the ascendancy of Christianity was the heart and attitude of charity, as well as its focus. In the second century the Church, father Tertullian notes that collections were taken regularly by Christian communities, and rather than use the funds for gluttony, the primary purpose was relief for the poor. On an ideological level, Princeton historian Peter Brown argues in Poverty and Leadership in the Late Roman Empire, “In a sense, it was Christian bishops who invented the poor. They rose to leadership in late Roman society by bringing the poor into ever-sharper focus.” In so doing, the Church was the first ever to create a social awareness and therefore the obligation to provide fairness and protection for those in need.

Charity and the Church Charity and the Hebrew BibleStarting in the Hebrew Bible, the poor were recognized as a distinct social class worthy of our care, protection, and resources. During the time of Moses, there were poor people in Israel and there were poor people in heathen lands as well, but the Biblical laws enacted by the Hebrews found throughout the Scriptures had safeguards and protection for the poor, something not found anywhere in ancient Mesopotamia. After a harvest, the Israelite was not to pick up what fell to the ground (glean) as it was all to be left for the poor (Leviticus 19:10). You were not to harvest the corners of your field (Leviticus 23:22) as this was to be left for the stranger and the poor. The justice system was not to favor the rich over the poor (Leviticus 19:15) nor was anyone permitted to charge interest when lending money to a poor person (Leviticus 22:25). The poor were to be taken in and cared for, including strangers and sojourners (Leviticus 25:35). No one was ever to oppress them (Deuteronomy 24:14) or close the hand to them (Deuteronomy 15:11), and they were to be given their daily wage by the end of the day (Deuteronomy 24:15). In order to safeguard these protections, the books of the prophets outline severe consequences descending upon those who oppress the poor, widows, and orphans (Isaiah 10:2, Malachi 3:5).

Jesus and CharityJesus, upon whom the Church is built, gave His followers the example of charity through love by first taking pity on the sick, the blind, and the leper; by feeding the hungry and restoring the sinner. By teaching his disciples to feed the poor (John 13:29) and distribute bread (Matthew 14:19), He left behind a literate following in the works of charity. Having taught them that it is better to give than to receive, in washing their feet just before His crucifixion, He leaves with them an unmistakable last impression about the life they are to lead as His followers. It is one of humble servitude where no one person is to consider himself above another.

Apostolic ChurchThrough the faith of the Apostolic Church, we see this new kind of charity, one motivated by love and unbound by laws, begin to unfold in the acts of the new believers. Acts chapter 6 records that one of the first orders of business among the new congregation of believers was to appoint someone to care for the widows and ensure their daily distribution. Because many within the new Christian Church were still bound by religious traditions which valued piety over benevolence, the apostle James makes an unmistakable break from the past when he describes the essence of the new religion in Chapter 1:27: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” He appears to be putting this act of kindness on the very same level as personal holiness and self-restraint, perhaps before it, seeing benevolence chronologically comes first.

Early ChurchThe first mention of organizing relief for the poor is found in the Didascalia Apostolorum contained in the Apostolic Constitution dating at the end of the second century or early third century. Accordingly, any member of the congregation who desires to give alms to the poor should apply first with the deacons who know the poor: “It is fit thou shouldest give and that he should dispense.” Writing in the second century, Justin Martyr describes the benevolence of the church in this way: “Those who are able, and desire to do so, give of their free will as much as they choose. What is collected is deposited with the president, and with it he supports the widows and orphans, and those who through sickness or any other cause are in want, assists prisoners and strangers, and provides for the needy in general.” Tertullian describes it this way: “It is so to speak a depositum of piety. For it is not applied to feasts and drinking bouts, but to the support or interment of the poor, the bringing up of boys and girls who have neither property nor parents, the relief of the aged, the shipwrecked and those who are in mines, in prison or in exile.” The important point to note is not just that benevolence is beginning to take shape as an organized effort but that unlike with the heathens, it emerges with a clear target: the poor, orphans, elderly, widows, prisoners, those in mines, and exiled. Much of the writings of this time include the word stranger, which would indicate that it was not just relief for believers but for neighbors in general, as Jesus instructed.

By the beginning of the third century, relief for the poor was increasingly concentrated in the bishops, who made the final decision on the recipients of church alms. From the writings of Cyprian the bishop of Carthage, we understand that the bishop administered the means for poor relief and it was the deacons who occupied the position of service, inquiring into and conveying information about specific needs to the bishops. The work of the deacons are the most fully described in the writings of Clement; “He is to minister to the infirm, to strangers and widows, to be a father to orphans, to go about into the houses of the poor to see if there is any one in need, sickness, or any other adversity; he is to care for and give information to strangers; he is to wash the paralytic and infirm, that they may have refreshment in their pains. Everyone is to have what he is in need of with respect to the Church. He is also to visit inns, and see if any poor or sick have entered or any dead are in them; if he finds anything of the kind, he is to notify it that what is needful may be provided for everyone. If he lives in a seaside town, he is to look about on the shore to discover if a body has washed ashore, and if he finds one, to clothe and bury it. He is not to burden the bishop with too many requests, but to make him acquainted with all on Sunday." So as time went on, it was the bishops who provided the leadership and support while the deacons were on the ground delivering the day-to-day needs of the poor.

By the fourth century, it was the Apostles’ Constitution which governed many church practices. It states emphatically, “It is there made the duty of bishops to take care for the maintenance of all who are in distress, and to let none of them want. They are to supply to orphans the care of parents, to widows that of husbands, to help to marriage those who are ready for marriage, to procure work for those out of work, to show compassion for those who are incapable of work, to provide a shelter for strangers, food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, visits for the sick and help for the prisoner.” It is impossible to measure the contribution these churches made towards relieving the burdens of those in need, but based on the language of early church letters, we know it was huge. The Epistles of Cyprian contain many such letters of gratitude from those in mines who received gifts from the deacons, and earlier Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, sent a letter to the Roman church thanking them for “sending alms to many Churches in different cities, now relieving the poverty of those who asked aid.” By the end of the fourth century, the matriculate of the Church of Antioch registered 3,000 widows and virgins, and to this Chrysostom of Constantinople adds strangers and lepers, all of whom received clothing and food.

The hospital system is bornDuring the Church’s early years, many houses were available to support the poor, widows, orphans, travelers and the sick. Prior to Constantine, they were the dwelling places of believers who opened their doors in the service of the Lord. Once the Church was able to worship openly, buildings were constructed to house the suffering of every kind. Within a few decades they began to change, specializing in the various classes of those in need. And thus hospitals specifically for the care of the sick were born.

The very first hospital is debatable, though many historians believe it was the work of Archbishop Basil in 370 when he founded the famous hospital in Caesarea with an isolation unit for those suffering from leprosy, and buildings to house the poor, the elderly, and the sick. Like a city, it contained housing for physicians and nurses along with workshops and schools. This was very different from the Greeks and later the Romans, who brought their sick to various temples where the healer-god Asclepius would give the sick wisdom and healing. While it was common in ancient civilizations to bring the sick to the temples, the early Christian hospitals differed in that they were specifically built to care for the sick, and many employed doctors and had training programs and libraries, along with what would become nurses. Furthermore, they were different because they were available to everyone who was in need, rather than only to specific classes or citizens. Therefore, what we know today as hospitals or in-patient medical care was unmistakably the invention of these Christian pioneers. Prominent Princeton University historian Peter Brown makes the case that such institutions were a novelty at the time with no classical precursors.

While Gregorian reforms required all cathedrals to establish shelters and almshouses, it is the network of monasteries that played a pivotal role in the development of hospitals during the Middle Ages. While all were called to care for the poor, these monastic centers developed into a more modern version of care by providing separate infirmaries for the sick, a pharmacy, library and a garden with medicinal plants. At Nola, Paulinas built an area just for the sick and a separate area to house the chronically ill, such as lepers. The foundation of the monastery of St. Benedict at Monte Cassino, in the 6th century, is notable because from this, one of the first medical schools in Europe would emerge. Later it would be The Hospital of the Holy Ghost at Montpellier, France that would emerge as the most important training center for doctors in Europe.

Prior to 1200, almost all of the hospitals and poorhouses originated with the monasteries, churches and bishops. Innumerable documents attest to the interest of the Church on behalf of hospitals, by example the Councils of Aachen in 817, and 836, mandated a hospital in connection with each church, with financial support coming from the canons. These were still meager institutions scattered throughout the European landscape, with little in the form of medical standards. The catalyst for the explosion of hospitals which was yet to come would be found in Pope Innocent III, who was a staunch supporter of charity and hospitals. He called charity the mother of all virtues and the thing that inoculates the soul against pride, anger, despair, and extravagance, and allows us to imitate Christ.

​The debate over the active Christian life versus the contemplative life had not been settled, as many monks had become hermits dedicating their life to prayer and asceticism. The verses that led to this debate can be found in Luke 10:38-42, where Martha decided to serve and Mary sat at Jesus’ feet. While Jesus came down in Mary’s defense, Pope Innocent stressed the importance of both service and contemplation even among monks, giving charitable movements a significant papal endorsement. Innocent’s plea on behalf of prostitutes led directly to the establishment of halfway houses throughout Europe to help these woman enter honest living.

Church Charity and the Modern EraSalvation ArmyIn 1865 William Booth, a Methodist preacher, founded the Christian Mission in London's East End to help feed and house the poor. The mission was reorganized in 1878 along military lines, with the preachers known as officers and Booth as the general. The group would soon be known as the Salvation Army. General Booth was deeply influenced by his wife, Catherine Booth, who was an inspiring speaker and helped to promote the idea of women preachers. The Salvation Army worked hard to rescue young women from prostitution; it was involved in attempting to bring an end to the slave trade and was influential in improving the working conditions of poor women and children who were sorely mistreated. Catherine and fellow members of the Salvation Army also attempted to shame employers into paying better wages. Dedicated to feeding and assisting the poor, the Salvation Army is now established in 80 countries, has 16,000 evangelical centers, and operates more than 3,000 social welfare institutions, hospitals, schools, and agencies.

Goodwill IndustriesFounded in 1902 in Boston by Rev. Edgar J. Helms, a Methodist minister and early social innovator, Helms collected used household goods and clothing in wealthier areas of the city, then hired and trained those who were poor to mend and repair the used goods. The goods were then resold or given to the people who repaired them. The system worked, and the Goodwill philosophy of “a hand up, not a hand out” was born. Dr. Helms’ vision set an early course for what today has become a $2.4 billion nonprofit organization. Helms described Goodwill Industries as an “industrial program as well as a social service enterprise . . . a provider of employment, training and rehabilitation for people of limited employability, and a source of temporary assistance for individuals whose resources were depleted.”

The Young Men’s Christian AssociationThe YMCA began as a response to deplorable social conditions of young men coming from rural areas to work in the big cities around the time of the Industrial Revolution. George Williams and a group of co-workers started the first YMCA for Bible study and prayer in order to improve life on the streets. Today the YMCA is the largest provider of child care in the United States, operating nearly 10,000 child care sites across the country, providing high-quality and affordable care to more than 500,000 children. YMCAs also serve nearly 10 million children under the age of 18 through activities such as camping, sports, and after-school programs. YMCAs are the country’s largest employers of teenagers.

The International Red CrossHenry Dunant was raised in Switzerland by a devoutly Calvinist family who exemplified piety and good works. Due to his father’s involvement with orphans and his mother’s involvement with the sick and poor, the young Dunant embraced social work at an early age. By age 18 he had joined the Geneva Society of Almsgiving, and by 24 he had founded the Geneva chapter of the Young Men’s Christian Association.

On a business venture in 1959, Dunant came across a horrifying battle scene in Italy, witnessing around 40,000 men lying either dead or dying on the battlefield, left behind by the country they served. Dunant immediately organized locals to provide assistance to those soldiers and upon his return to Switzerland, began working toward the creation of a national relief organization that would be neutral in wars, thus able to assist all the wounded in battle. He understood that if doctors assisted the wounded in the battlefield they would be shot by the enemy, which was pointless since they were attending to incapacitated soldiers. To carry out his plans, the new relief workers would need to wear an emblem so they could be identified by enemy soldiers. On October 26, 1863 the first International Conference was held in Geneva to discuss his ideas. Article 8 of the convention described the emblem: it would be a red cross.

Today, the ICRC has a permanent mandate under international law to take impartial action for prisoners, the wounded and sick, and civilians affected by conflict. In 2004, ICRC delegates visited more than 570,000 people deprived of their freedom in some 80 countries; ICRC water, sanitation, and construction projects catered to the needs of around 20 million people; the ICRC supported hospitals and health care facilities serving some 2.8 million people; it also provided essential household goods to more than 2.2 million people, food aid to 1.3 million people, and assistance to another 1.1 million people in the form of sustainable food-production and micro-economic initiatives.

Mercy ShipsDon Stephens was nineteen when he took a trip with his youth group to the Bahamas. That summer, Hurricane Cleo swept through, causing massive devastation. Stephens’ youth group hid in an old British Air Force hangar. Stephens could not forget a prayer said during the hurricane: wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if a ship could come in after the devastation, to provide the necessary medical care and supplies. Years later, a team led by Don and Deyon Stephens began the process of finding a suitable vessel to fulfill their dream of a hospital ship that would reach out to the world’s poorest people. On July 7, 1978 this dream became a reality. A deposit of $1 million was paid for a rusty old cruise liner, the Victoria, and work began to transform the ship. Over the course of four years, it became a hospital ship with three operating theaters and a 40-bed ward. In 1982, the vessel sailed as the newly christened Anastasis—the first Mercy Ship. Since their beginning, they have impacted over 2.48 million people; delivered more than $1 billion in medical services; competed close to 350 construction and agriculture projects including schools, clinics, orphanages and water wells; and demonstrated the love of God to people. They have performed services in 581 port visits, in 54 developing nations, and 18 developed nations.

Christian Children’s FundIn 1941, Dr. Clarke unveiled his plan for individual, person-to-person child “sponsorship” in China. Donors began sending $24 per year, per child. This new China’s Children’s Fund concept enabled people to send smaller amounts of money on a regular basis to help an individual child—pioneering the philosophy of child sponsorship. In 1951, the name was changed to Christian Children’s Fund, as their work was extended beyond just China. Today the CCF is working in 33 countries, assisting more than 10.5 million children and families regardless of race, creed, or gender. CCF supports vocational training, literacy training, food distribution, educational programs, early childhood development, health and immunizations programs, nutritional programs, water and sanitation development, and emergency relief, safeguarding children in both manmade and natural disasters.

World VisionIn 1947 Robert Pierce was a young evangelist working at Youth for Christ. During a crusade in China, he met a missionary named Tena Hoelkedoers, who introduced him to White Jade, a young girl who was abandoned by her family because she had received Christ at one of his rallies. Tena asked Pierce what was he going to do about it, and so he promptly gave her his last five dollars and promised to send more each month. That divine appointment blossomed into World Vision’s first child sponsorship program in Korea in 1953. As children began to flourish through sponsorship in Korea, the program expanded into other Asian countries and eventually into Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Today, World Vision supports 4 million children in 100 countries by providing access to clean water, nutritious food, education, health care, and economic opportunities.

Habitat for HumanityHabitat for Humanity was born in 1968 when Mr. & Mrs. Fuller pursued their dream of working with churches, community groups, and others to provide decent and affordable housing. In the early fall of 1976, the Fullers met with friends and supporters to present their dream, and Habitat for Humanity International was officially birthed at this meeting.

Bread for the WorldA Christian voice for ending hunger in the new century. Thousands of local churches and community groups support Bread for the World’s efforts by writing letters to Congress and making financial gifts to the organization. Bread for the World groups across the country meet locally to pray, study, and take action; members meet with their representatives in Congress, organize telephone trees, win media coverage, and reach out to new churches.

Compassion InternationalIn 1952, Evangelist Everett Swanson traveled to South Korea to preach the gospel to the troops in the Republic of Korea Army. During his visit, he encountered children orphaned by the war. Inspired by Matthew 15:32, where Jesus says, “I have compassion for these people...I do not want to send them away hungry,” in 1953 Rev. Swanson began incorporating his experience in Korea into his revival meetings. Christians were donating funds to purchase rice and fuel for the Korean children, and by 1954 they had developed a sponsorship program so that individuals, families or churches could help support orphans for a few dollars a month. Sponsorship money provided Biblical lessons, food, clothing, shelter and medical aid on a regular basis for the children of Korea. Because of Swanson’s obedience, 1.2 million children are assisted each year in more than 24 countries.

Who Really CaresSyracuse professor Dr. Arthur Brooks spent years researching the current condition of charity, to better understand who is doing the giving and why. Brooks’ work is summarized in his book entitled, Who Really Cares:America’s Charity Divide: Who Gives, Who Doesn’t, and Why It Matters. The author started his research as a liberal progressive, almost certain it was the secularists who were charitable, primarily because they are the ones that advocate higher taxes and more government programs. His research would lead him to very different conclusions. Here are some excerpts from his book:

Religious people are more charitable in every measurable nonreligious way—including secular donations, informal giving, and even acts of kindness and honesty—than secularists…Secularism correlates directly with low rates of charity in Europe just as it does in the United States. All across Europe, religious citizens are more than twice as likely to volunteer for charities and causes as secularists. This correlation is specifically tied to religion, not some other characteristic associated with it…. Imagine comparing secular Frenchmen with religious Americans who are identical with respect to education, age, income, sex, and marital status. We can predict that 27 percent of the secular French will volunteer, compared to 83 percent of the religious Americans...But the evidence leaves no room for doubt: Religious people are far more charitable than nonreligious people. In years of research, I have never found a measurable way in which secularists are more charitable than religious people.

His conclusions are encouraging for the Church and follow the historical pattern we’ve been discussing. The unanswered question remains, would secularists be charitable at all, if not for the example of the Church over the centuries? We may never know the answer to this question, but secularists should take caution when criticizing the Church, knowing the purely secular movements of the past (i.e. Communism, French Revolution, etc.) have done very little in the way of charity both philosophically and materially.

As Christians we must keep the tradition of the Church and the command of Jesus alive in everything we do, but most importantly in the way we love and give. It is not enough to say that we are Christians because we believe the teachings of Christ. He himself said that people will know His disciples by their fruit. That is to say, by the product of our actions, are we known as Christ’s followers; more importantly, we demonstrate the love of God to a lost world by our acts of kindness. The best witness is a life of love.

Conclusion: Believers can say with confidence that Christianity is the most charitable worldview in human history.